She finally ran, but not for long

[jkrustchinsky]

I finally got her all put backtoegther after new head, and 1700.00 worth of replacement parts. She started right up, ran ok i guess, i didnt push her. But, my temp guage on my instrument cluster that i paid 135 bucks for doesnt frekin work so i took her back home. I dont think my cooling fans were working either because they didnt come on.

after turning her off, i was making sure everything was tight and put together, i tried to start her back up, but nothing. anybody have any suggestions. thanks josh

[GostRidr]

Josh,

I apologize if the back story is in another post but I need more info. Is the temp gauge a stock replacement? Did the old one work before? As for your fans, how long did you warm up the car and run it? How old is your cooling system and what are the outside temps? I ask this because they will all affect how fast your fan comes on.

good luck,

[924Sman]

Well start over, check the vacuum and electrical connections, grounds. Does it crank now after shut down, tach indicator bounce when cranking? Do a fuel check, FP coming on, pressure. Pull the fuel relay/DME relay and jump the connections to determine the relay has not fried. Read the proceedure at Clarks or search for post on it here.

Check the sender on the radiator that fires up the cooling fans and if it did not get to full temp upon your initial start they won't come on. Check the spaded wire on the head and the temp sender for function, cracked connection lead.

Dal

[mr. dude]

If the car is not turning over at all check your starter or it could be your ignition switch. If it's turning over but not firing could be a lot of things. I'd check your speed and reference sensors if your tach is bounching or if not check your fuel sending unit.

[924Sman]

Tach should bounce

Dal

[jkrustchinsky]

cooling system is old, all the hoses have been replaced, the tach doesn't bounce, so what does that mean. When i turn it over, it just keeps turning over and the oil pressure slowly goes up as it cranks. what does that mean. I ran the car for about 20 minutes and drove it around never going above 30mph or 3000rpms. Its about 50 degress outside, the hood is removed.

i put gas in it, so its not that, ive checked all my connections, i think i need to fix a ground from the harness that has the temp sensor and the afm sensor plugs on it, its a yellow wire that somebody had taped to the alternator adjusting bar. but it ran before when that was undone and the wire was just hanging there.

[aj951]

Somebody back me up here but I think if the tach doesn't bounce, that means that you reference or speed sensor is either bad or disconnected. Did you replace you reference and speed sensors? If so, are they spaced correctly from the flywheel? If they were too close and made contact with the flywheel, they could have been damaged when you ran the car the first time.

[jkrustchinsky]

i never took them out so they should be fine spacing wise, pieces of **** might be bad, but would that make the car not run? josh

[aj951]

Yes, bad sensors would keep the car from cranking. However, since you didn't replace them I doubt that they just went bad. There is a procedure on Clark's Garage on how to check them but you need an Oscilloscope. If you disconnected them from the DME harness when you replaced your head, I would recheck those connections as a quick check, perhaps they might be loose.

[speedracing944]

IIRC isn't the mounting braket for the speed/ reference sensor connectors near the large ground cable which goes to the head. The ground terminates in the center top of the fire wall. Maybe it is disconnected there.

Speedy

[mattdavis11]

This probably isn't the problem since you had the head off, but you might want to check all the wires at the positive battery terminal. I had similar symptoms (no tach, no start) after replacing the battery connector. One wire was pretty corroded under the sheath.

[jkrustchinsky]

the tach needle does indeed bounce it was just darker last night so i couldnt see it but it is bouncing. ive checked everything 20 times and i just dont get it. it ran, and then i turned it off. and now it wont start. wtf????

all the batt. cables are brand new. i dont know what to do

[Techno Duck]

Do you have... fuel pressure, spark? Are the injectors firing? Simply saying the car wont start does not help anyone figure out what the problem is.

[jkrustchinsky]

im testing all that now,

[924Sman]

The S/R sensors seems fine if the tach is moving so I think the answer is easier, pull the fuel relay and jump it per Clarks manual. Do this before anything else then go from there. Remember to pull the jump wire or it will run continuously.

Dal

[jkrustchinsky]

ok i pulled the spark plug, and turned the car over and there was no spark so its not getting spark. I dont know what causes it not to get spark, its got everything brand new, coil, plugs, cap, rotor, wires, somebody know what i do.

i tested for fuel and its getting it. thanks josh

[924Sman]

I am going to back off that sensor thought.....Get a multi meter out and test the speed and reference sensors.....here are the specs

Speed Sensor:
600-1600 ohms between terminals 8 and 27
Infinite resistance between terminals 27 and 23

Reference Sensor:
600-1600 ohms between terminals 25 and 26
Infinite resistance between terminals 26 and 78.

Dal

[Makis]

Do you have immobilizer? If so it may not work properly. Just a thought.

[earlr85944]

pull the wire off the coil and check for spark there first

[jkrustchinsky]

thanks for all the help guys, we do have spark at the plugs, pulled one and dad turned the car over good spark. will chcck the fuel relay tomorrow